Aqueous solutions of psilocin and psilocybin reference standards remain stable for up to seven days when protected from light, as measured by high-performance liquid chromatography. Excluding light significantly prolongs their useful life. The study used a methanol and ammonium formate mobile phase with detection at 269 nm over a fourteen-day period.
More than 200 fungal species worldwide produce hallucinogenic compounds such as psilocybin and psilocin. In Chile, seizures of these fungi typically involve mature specimens or spores, but clandestine laboratories have been found processing fungi at the mycelium stage, where traditional identification is impossible. DNA analysis, specifically real-time PCR and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequencing, provides a reliable identification method. This paper describes the morphological, chemical, and genetic analysis of mycelia from a clandestine laboratory. Scanning electron microscopy, mass spectrometry, high-resolution melting (HRM) analysis, and ITS sequencing identified the species as Psilocybe cubensis. Mycelia from the evidence and fruiting bodies were genetically indistinguishable.